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Ike’s gas spike: ‘$1.50 in 24 hours’

Ξ September 14th, 2008 | → | ∇ Uncategorized |

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush Saturday said officials will ensure gasoline stations don’t gouge customers after Hurricane Ike, but with some prices near $5 a gallon, some consumers were not so sure.

Regular gasoline was at $4.99 per gallon Saturday in Knoxville, Tennessee, iReporter Sean Kennedy says.

Dozens of iReport.com users complained of rising gasoline prices Friday and Saturday. Sean Kennedy, of Knoxville, Tennessee, took a photo of a Knoxville station displaying a $4.99 per gallon price for regular gasoline on Saturday.

The previous day, he said, he had bought regular gas at the station for $3.59 a gallon.

"I know the hurricane is causing a spike, but … [nearly] $1.50 in 24 hours?" Kennedy said.

Other stations in the area, he said, were offering prices at or near $4.99 on Saturday. iReport.com: Send photos of gas prices

"I was just appalled to see it go up that much in 24 hours," he said.

In Cumming, Georgia, iReporter Jeffrey Brock took a picture of a gas station sign with a $5.20-per-gallon price on Friday, the day before Ike slammed the Texas Gulf Coast.

"Most other stations in the area are not charging this much," he wrote to iReport.com.

Gas prices rose across the country amid fears the storm would disrupt fuel supplies. The region hit by Ike is home to about 25 percent of U.S. oil refining capacity, a large percentage of which shut down ahead of the storm.

Watch as iReporters eye gas prices »

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According to a nationwide survey released early Saturday morning by the American Automobile Association, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline edged up 5.8 cents to $3.73 a gallon, from $3.675 a day earlier.

The nearly 6-cent increase was the biggest one-day spike this year and the largest since shortly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to AAA. The price of gas rose by 14 cents and 16 cents on consecutive acheter viagra kaufen cialis days in Katrina’s aftermath.

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